


A Terrible Babysitter

by NyxieSilverfire



Series: Misadventures in Babysitting [1]
Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Code Empress, Storm Trooper, elemental master, erbluhen emotion - Freeform, grand archer - Freeform, grand master - Freeform, iron paladin - Freeform, kinda modern ish au, lord knight - Freeform, lunatic psyker - Freeform, noblesse - Freeform, rated for language, reckless fist - Freeform, royal guard, sakra devanam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18364472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyxieSilverfire/pseuds/NyxieSilverfire
Summary: A strange distortion in time and space turns most of the El Search Party into children. However one of them is still his normal self somehow. The problem is Add has no experience with children and would rather be doing literally anything else other than this.





	1. Chapter 1

Add stared around in horrified bewilderment. The living room and dining room were filled with young children. They were _maybe_ eight at the oldest. He pointed at each of them with his finger. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7, 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 12 of them. All looked suspiciously like the El Search Party and that woman that partnered up with them recently. A weak laugh escaped his lips.

“Add!” Ara noticed him first and tripped over herself in her haste to reach him. She face-planted into the ground. Her eyes watered but she got to her feet and wiped the tears away.

“Ara! Are you okay?” Chung asked worriedly, “You fell over.” He half turned to face her. A partially folded piece of paper sat on the table in front of him.

“I'm fine,” Ara stated determinedly. She hurried up to Add and pulled on one of his belt tails.

Add watched her, silently, still trying to wrap his head around what in the hell happened.

“Look what I made!” Ara excitedly held up a piece of paper that was folded into some sort of shape.

“What is that supposed to be?”

“It's a paper crane!” Ara wailed. She burst into tears seemingly out of nowhere.

Add jumped and stared at her, dumbfounded. “Wait-no-that's not-! Stop!”

Ara continued crying like she hadn't heard him.

“Be quiet!” Add snapped irritably. How was he supposed to explain if she couldn't hear him over her wailing?

“You're making Ara cry!” Aisha yelled accusingly.

Add shot her a glare, forgetting for a moment that she was a child now. He flinched when the magician stepped back, a look of fear crossing her face.

Ara bit her lip. She quieted to whimpering, tears still flowing from her eyes. If anything she looked _more_ upset, despite the lack of screams.

Add hesitated, feeling bad for snapping at her. He shoved his hands into his pockets and took a deep breath. _I swear._ It was best for everyone involved if he found a way to undo this as soon as possible. Children were so irritatingly fragile. There was no way he could avoid hurting them somehow. After gaining some composure, he explained as gently as he could, “I didn't say it was _bad_. I've just never seen a crane before.”

Ara sniffled and wiped away some of her tears, “So-So it's good?”

Add didn't feel like making her cry again so he nodded, despite the fact that he had no idea what a good paper crane would even look like.

“I'm going outside!” Lu announced. She hopped down from where she'd been jumping on the couch and strutted to the door.

“Wait for me!” Ciel slid off the couch and hurried after her.

“Then hurry up, silly,” Lu stopped and turned back to Ciel. Once he caught up with her she continued.

“No!” Add yelled. There was no way to fix this if they weren't all in the same place. They _had_ to stay inside. He hopped on Dynamo and zipped across the room, dropping down between Lu and the door, “You're not going anywhere.”

“You can't tell me what to do!” Lu argued, “I am Luciela-”

“R. Sourcream,” Add rolled his eyes, “I know.” His eyes narrowed, “You still aren't going anywhere.”

Lu tried to slip around him, “I'm going outside!”

Add caught her arm as she went by, easily stopping her from getting any farther.

Lu screamed and started thrashing and wriggling in an attempt to get free from him.

Ciel watched with very wide eyes.

Add had to pick her up in order to keep his hold on her. “Dynamo. Put a lock on the door,” he growled in frustration. This was already the worst.

“Sis! I wanna practice with my sword!” Elsword called suddenly.

Add's head shot up. _Shit. Their weapons_. Even he wasn't so inept with children that he would let them have access to things that were clearly dangerous. He set Lu down on the couch as he walked past it. Now that there was no way for her to go outside he wasn't particularly worried. He ignored the fit she started throwing and caught up to Elsword before the tiny redhead even reached the stairs. Add grabbed him, turned him around, and shoved him back toward the living room.

Elsword stumbled forward and glared at Add, “I almost fell over!”

“Go hang out with your sister,” Add snapped, “I thought you liked her more than swords.”

Elsword screamed incoherently.

Add gritted his teeth “You're not fucking-” He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and scanned the room for Elesis. She was comforting Lu, who was sulking on the couch. “Elesis! Come get your-” He just managed to remember they were children and cut off before calling Elsword an idiot. After another deep breath he forced himself to sound as calm as he possibly could, “Come get your brother.”

Elesis looked up at the sound of her name. She gave Lu a final pat on the head before she calmly walked over and wrapped Elsword in a hug. Elsword stopped screaming. She turned a confused look to Add, “How come he can't practice?”

“Because he can't!” Add turned away from them and hurried up the stairs. He carefully checked each room to make sure none of them were in it before he shut the door and made Dynamo put a coded lock on it. Once every room except his own was locked he leaned against the wall and sank to the floor. He was already _exhausted_? How had this even happened?

“Add!” Elesis's voice echoed down the hall.

Add groaned and ran his hands down his face. “I swear to fucking god. What is happening _now_?” He got to his feet and stomped back down the hall. Before he even reached the top of the stairs he heard more screaming. He laughed mirthlessly. He wanted quiet. He wanted to think, to work on a way to undo this.

When Add reached the bottom of the stairs, wind spirits filled the living room. The room was completely trashed. Lu, Elsword, Chung, and Ara were all caught in a whirlwind that spun them around. All four were giggling.

Rena stood in the center of the whirlwind, arguing with Elesis while Raven watched. “You're going to ruin our fun,” the young elf complained.

“You guys are going to get hurt,” Elesis argued.

“Yeah!” Aisha pointed her finger at Rena, “Add's gonna glare at you all scary!”

“I wouldn't let anyone get hurt,” Rena insisted confidently, “The wind spirits wouldn't drop my friends!”

“What the-” Add cut himself off, staring at spirits that commanded the whirlwind with broad sweeping motions. He transferred the stare to Rena, “How did those spirits even _get in here_?”

“I don't know. I asked them to come,” Rena shrugged.

Add laughed and hid his face in his hands. He'd thought Rena would be helpful but it appeared he'd thought wrong. The only helpful one of them was Elesis! She must've been a blessing for whatever parent she had, that was for sure. Finally he ordered, “Put them down.”

“But-”

“Now.”

Rena pouted but asked the wind spirits to gently set her friends back on the ground.

Ara stumbled from being dizzy. Add had Dynamo catch her before she fell, slammed her head into the coffee table, and, no doubt, started crying again. Chung, smartly, sat down where he was. Lu and Elsword continued giggling and chased each other in circles. Ciel quickly joined them. Rena continued arguing with Elesis and Aisha about whether or not the whirlwind was dangerous. Raven butted into the conversation, often on Rena's side, every so often.

Add sat down where he was, hiding his face in his hands again. He laughed until he couldn't breath anymore. How had this happened? Why was he the only one that was remotely functional? Why was there so much chaos? Why was everyone _screaming_? Why was Elesis the only responsible one? What happened to Rena? Why was she a gremlin like the rest of them? She was usually so… mom-like.

Add jumped as a hand gently patted his head. He looked up expecting Elesis but instead Eve stood in front of him, patting his head. She was just as tiny as the rest of them but her expression didn't seem any different from usual. He sighed, “What?”

“You look tired,” Eve observed, her voice no different from usual.

Add scowled, “ _Thanks_.”

“That look is unnecessary,” Eve insisted, sounding more than little indignant, “I was simply making an observation.”

Add blinked. That was emotional for her. Was _Eve_ going to start screaming too? _Please no._

“Where are Moby and Remy?” Eve asked.

“In your room.”

“But I can't get into my room because of your lock.”

Add tipped his head to the side. It was a basic code. Shouldn't she be able to get past it? Or was that something she couldn't do in her current child-like form? Her abilities shouldn't change just because her size did right?

“Can I go into my room?” Eve asked rather impatiently.

“No,” Add answered slowly, hesitantly.

“Why not?” Eve demanded.

“No one else can go in their room,” Add explained. Usually he would let her do whatever she wanted. But he _did not_ want to deal with the fit the others would throw if he did. He didn't need all the chaos directed at him. It was bad enough it was happening around him.

“Add.”

Add almost didn't hear Chung's hesitant voice. “What?” he turned to look at him and immediately noticed him looking a little odd.

“I think I might be sick?” Chung gave him an uncertain worried look.

Add's eyes widened. _What?_ “What do you mean sick? You literally haven't left the building. How could you have caught anything?”

Chung flinched, “I'm sorry…”

Add cringed. Oops. He leaned forward and patted Chung's head awkwardly, “I-Well-I'm not mad. Just confused.” What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to stop the others from destroying the place and look after Chung at the same time?

Add's eyes narrowed as he realized he still had yet to yell at two of them. Where were the stupid angel and the gun woman-child…person? He sighed and got to his feet. “Elesis,” he called.

The redhead was there in an instant, ready to help, “Yeah? Is Chung okay?”

Add nodded, “He's fine.” Or at least he will be. Hopefully. He really hoped Chung was just anxious over nothing. The kid had been spinning around in circles for however long after all. He sighed. He couldn't believe he was actually relying on Elesis of all people. He crossed his arms over his chest, “You're in charge until I get back. Make sure the place doesn't become even more of a wreck. If anyone argues with you, fight them.”

Elesis nodded seriously, “I'll do my best.”


	2. Chapter 2

Add couldn't believe what he was doing. This wasn't fair. Why did he have to be responsible? He searched the entire downstairs area. They shouldn't have gotten upstairs. All of those doors were locked. Except his, but even those two kids _should_ have the common sense to stay out of his room. Eventually, after about five minutes, he found one of the windows opened a crack. His eyes narrowed. It was just closed enough he missed it on his first pass but just open enough for small fingers to open it up from the outside. They seriously used the window to get out? He was going to have to put locks on the windows of all things?

Add growled in frustration. Sneaky little gremlins. Muttering under his breath, he opened the window and climbed out. He completely closed the window after him and placed a lock on it. The others wouldn't be able to get through it but he would. He knew how to undo all of his locks of course. Since Eve flat out admitted she couldn't do it for whatever strange reason there was no need for him to worry.

Whichever of the two came up with the idea was in some _serious_ trouble when he found them. Add paused. He was starting to sound like Rena. A string of creative curses fell from his mouth.

“Dynamo,” Add sighed. Honestly. It was like the two thought he hadn't noticed they were different. Of course he programmed Dynamo to pick up on the anomalous energy that surrounded the both of them. What else would he have done? He grinned, “Find the gun woman and the angel's energy signatures. Plot the fastest course to their location.”

Dynamo hummed quietly.

Add occupied himself with watching people walk by while he waited, leaning against the corner of the building. Dynamo buzzed when it was finished and he pulled up a screen. At least they hadn't wandered far. And they were together.

Add shook his head. He was _not_ worried about them, thank you. He hopped onto Dynamo and followed the path it laid out for him. When he found them he stopped and hovered just behind them, far enough above everyone that no one would notice him. He sat down on Dynamo and watched the two kids carefully. They were talking with a handful of adults.

“Where are your guys' parents?” A concerned woman asked the two gremlins.

“Oh, we don't have any,” Ain responded cheerfully.

The woman looked horrified.

“The person looking after us is still back in the house over there,” Rose pointed down the road. She grinned, “We're just taking a look at the town!”

“I noticed,” Add commented, dryly.

Rose's head jerked up and she stared at him in surprise.

The woman jumped nearly five feet in the air and looked up at him.

Add smirked and dropped off Dynamo. He glanced at the woman, unable to keep distrust from flaring up in his chest, “They're fine now. You can go.” It's not like he was protective over them. With these two at least, he couldn't care less.

“Oh, Mr. Ancient!” Ain beamed up at him, “You finally found us.”

Add scowled at him, “Are you-” He cut off. He was beginning to realize that it was best if he kept comments he'd normally make to himself and tried to keep calm. The woman in front of them was already studying him with a heavy amount of disapproval. He glared at her. What did she want? He told her she could go. She should just get on with her business.

“Aren't you a bit young to be looking after children?” the woman asked finally. Her eyes narrowed and she looked him up and down, “You hardly look responsible-”

Add snarled, “Aren't you old enough to know not to butt into someone else's business? These kids aren't yours. Fuck off.” He pushed away the protective feeling that added venom to his voice. He couldn't care less about these two but he was not about to let them get lost. Not when he still had to undo whatever made them like this in the first place.

“That's rude-”

“Come on,” Add interrupted Ain and gave him a hard look. He wasn't sure if it was a glare or what but the angel's teeth clicked as his mouth shut.

Ain came around to stand next to Add but not without obviously considering doing otherwise.

Rose glanced at Add uneasily but took one of his hands.

“Those kids clearly need someone more experienced with children to look after them.”

_No shit. But I'm all they've got_ _until I fix this_ _._ Add ignored the anxious looks both kids gave him and scowled at the woman. He didn't dignify her unwanted comment with a response. Instead he stalked away. He was trying his best dammit. That stupid woman didn't have the right to make any sort of comment let alone one like that. Who the hell did she think she was?

“We're in trouble, aren't we?” Rose broke the silence as they approached the house Add had left the others in. She gave him another uneasy glance.

Add sighed. Finally he answered, “Yes. You're in trouble.” _Who the fuck sneaks out of a window_ _just to explore town_ _ **anyway**_ _?_ He could come up with multiple reason to sneak out of a window, but none of them were so…simple.

Ain looked up at him, “So what are you going to make us do?”

Add rolled his eyes. He had _no clue_ what to do with kids that were in trouble. Maybe he'd just make them sit on the couch. Was that really a punishment? It was the best thing his exhausted mind could come up with that didn't seem cruel. He smiled ruefully. Not that he would know what was cruel. He just knew what hurt and what didn't.

“I'm tired,” Ain complained.

Add rolled his eyes but managed not to glare at him, “Maybe if you hadn't wandered all over town you wouldn't be.” Actually. Ain probably still would be. The gremlin angel would've been in the middle of the chaos. He seemed to enjoy it and certainly enjoyed causing it.

When Add carefully opened the door he found Elesis sitting on the table and all of the others just finishing up cleaning the living room. Ciel had a black eye, Lu had scratches on her face, and Rena and Raven were both casting mutinous glances in the redhead's direction. He let go of Rose's hand and looked around in confusion, “What happened?”

Elesis dropped down from the table and scampered up to him. She grinned proudly, “You told me if they argued with me I could fight them. So I did. And we've cleaned up the living room for you!”

Add blinked at her slowly. He forgot he said that. It's not like he could yell at her. He barely had the energy to anyway. _Shit_. He realized he was the closest thing to an adult here. He had to make sure the injuries she left the others with didn't get all messed up.

“I want Moby and Remy,” Eve demanded, “Go get them.”

Add pressed his lips together and took a deep breath. “I can't.”

“Why not?”

“Can't I just make you something else? Moby and Remy are not coming out of your room until you're…” _Back to normal_. Add finished silently.

“Until I'm what?” Eve did not sound pleased in the slightest.

Add snorted, “Not tiny anymore.”

“I'm always tiny compared to you.”

“Fine. Less tiny.”

“I'm hungry!” Elsword interrupted Add's argument with Eve.

“Yeah!” Ara agreed. “Can we have food?”

Add gritted his teeth, “You two are _always_ hungry.”

“I'm hungry!” Lu leaped to her feet, “I want cookies!”

“No.” Add snapped at her.

“I'm also hungry,” Rena admitted.

Chung nodded but didn't say anything.

“I'm hungry too,” Elesis commented. She glanced at the clock and started bouncing excitedly, “It's dinner time! Look!” She pointed at the it and looked back at Add.

Add reluctantly lifted his eyes to the clock hanging on the wall. 5:30 pm. Was that really when dinner time was? It felt too early to be eating anything. He wasn't even hungry.

Elesis tugged on one of his tail belts, “I can help you cook! I'll listen to everything you say! Promise!”

Add stared at her. Help him cook? Oh _fuck_. He was the closest thing to an adult here. He quickly shook his head, “I'm not cooking anything.”

“What? Why?” Elesis demanded. She stomped her foot, “That's not fair!”

Add groaned. _Now_ Elesis decide d to pitch a fit? After she' d been so helpful all damn day? _Seriously_? How could he make not cooking sound like it was a good thing? Kids liked good things right? Something told him he did not want Elesis to be upset for much longer. Besides, what if she stopped being helpful after this?

“How come you won't cook?” Lu demanded, “Are you that lazy?”

“Mr. Ancient probably wants us to starve,” Ain suggested all too cheerfully.

Add glared at him, “I do _not_.” He transferred the look to Lu, “And I'm not lazy!”

“You left Elesis in charge,” Aisha argued.

“She beat us up!” Ciel added.

“I can see that,” Add commented mildly. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. How did Rena and Raven put up with them every single day for so long? They definitely had more patience than he did. It probably helped that they weren't putting up with tiny demanding gremlins.

“I thought we were gonna go out,” Ara admitted shyly. She shrugged, “We did clean the whole living room while he was gone.”

Chung nodded, “That's what I thought too.” He looked away and quietly added, “I just didn't wanna be the first one to say so.”

For the first time since getting up that morning, Add had silence. Twelve hopeful sets of eyes were all trained on him.

Add took a moment to cherish the silence before even thinking of an answer. How was he supposed to wrangle twelve kids by himself if they did go out? What did they even have the money for? He was hopelessly unaware of the party's financial situation. “You _did_ clean the whole living room…” he hummed thoughtfully.

Many of the kids exchanged glances. Excited grins started to spread across their faces.

What kind of places even were there? What kind of places would be willing to handle twelve kids? He would cross that bridge when he got there. He sighed, mildly defeated, “Fine. We can go out.” Either way it was much better than cooking.

Excited howls erupted from every kid's throat.

“Quiet down!” Add yelled to be heard over them.

All of them quieted in an instant.

Despite already feeling ridiculous for what he was about to say, Add forced himself to look and sound as serious as he could, “One wrong move from one of you and the whole thing will be canceled, understood?”

They all stared at him with wide eyes. No one said anything.

Add's eyes narrowed, “Understood? I can always take it back and make you find something for yourselves.”

A chorus of “Understood!” filled the room. All twelve kids nodded their heads vigorously.

Add sighed with relief. He had a feeling this was going to be an adventure in and of itself. “Let's go.”


	3. Chapter 3

Add's eyes snapped open. He gritted his teeth and growled in frustration. He lifted his chin from his hand and glared at the bed. Yes, they were all gathered in his room because of his choice but that didn't make it any less irritating. After the three hours it took to wrestle the lot of them up the stairs, he let them crash here. Their weapons were still in their rooms and truth be told, he wanted to keep as close of an eye on them as possible. He still wasn't certain something bad wouldn't happen because of this.

After a couple hours of relative quiet though, Add's exhaustion had caught up to him. He hadn't left his desk, but he had been _trying_ to get some sleep. Of course the one time in his entire life he actually wanted to sleep, at least one of them was snoring so loud it was giving him a headache. It would be a lie if he said he didn't have a couple guesses who it was. He was forced to use Dynamo as a railing on the bed to keep Elsword specifically, but also Ara, from falling off. Chung was officially sick and sleeping in his lap. Elesis, Rena, Raven, Ciel, and Rose had all volunteered to sleep on the floor so the others could pile onto the bed without as much trouble. Lu had moved off the bed to lay with Ciel in the blanket fort they'd forced Add to help make before they would finally lay down and sleep.

Oh yeah. Not to mention the two stray cats they made him bring back on their way home from dinner. Not that Add minded cats, but seriously? He didn't want two more things dependent on him in the house. “Fucking hell,” he muttered under his breath. He needed caffeine. Unfortunately, he had a sick kid in his lap that he did not want to risk waking after how long it took to get there. Who just randomly catches sickness from nowhere? How does that happen? Going out probably didn't help Chung's condition but there was no way in hell Add was going to cook anything, especially not for them. He was already putting enough effort into looking after them.

Add sighed and put his head back on his chin. The screens were bright in his eyes, especially when compared to the surrounding darkness of the room. According to all the data he gathered on them, they were perfectly fine. There wasn't anything wrong with them other than they were children. When they shouldn't be. How was he supposed to fix it when there was technically nothing wrong?

Add blinked open his eyes to someone tugging on his shirt. “What?” he demanded groggily. He was genuinely surprised he'd managed to sleep. It hadn't helped his exhaustion as much as he would've liked.

“What's for breakfast?” Elesis asked the moment his eyes opened.

Add stared at her for a second. How was he supposed to know what was for breakfast? He sighed, trying hard not to roll his eyes, “Just… give me a minute.” He still wasn't going to make anything for them. Maybe there was cereal or something else easy like that.

“Can I have tea please?” Chung asked miserably.

Add looked at him, about to tell him no. About to tell him there was no way he was making tea but Chung looked so _miserable_ that he knew he'd feel bad if he said anything like that. He clamped his mouth shut before taking a deep breath, “Sure.” _I just have to figure out how to make it._ He hoped whatever decided he could be the only adult was getting a good laugh out of this because he was one hundred percent done. It was tedious and annoying. These kids were lucky he was actually trying not to hurt their feelings. He wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

Add walked down stairs, into the kitchen, with Chung holding his hand and clinging onto his arm the whole way. Aisha and Elsword were fighting in the living room with Ara trying to get them to be nicer to each other. Elesis was playing a board game with Raven. Ain and Rose chased each other around and over the couch. Lu, Ciel, and Rena were in the process of setting the cookie jar on the counter.

“I don't think so,” Add grabbed it and put it up on top of the cabinet.

Lu squealed in surprise and nearly fell off the counter. Dynamo helped Ciel catch her.

“Good morning Add!” Rena smiled innocently.

Ciel glanced at her and copied her innocent expression.

“Hey,” Add responded simply. He was still tired. He did not feel like yelling at the three of them, so he didn't. He groaned and opened up the cabinet. After he got Chung some tea, he would get himself some caffeine. There was no way he was getting through the day without it and a lot of it at that. Maybe that was why Raven always drank five cups of coffee within two hours of waking up.

Add pulled the three flavors of tea normal, adult Rena had stored in the cabinet and handed them to Chung, “Pick one while I figure out where the fuck the medicine is.” He knew Rena put medicine in the tea whenever they were sick. He never tasted it, but she always let him know when it was there.

“How do you not know where the medicine is?” Lu demanded. “You're the adult!”

Add opened his mouth then closed it again, keeping his scathing remark to himself. Instead he explained as calmly as he could, through gritted teeth, “This is the first time one of you has gotten sick.”

Chung set the tea he wanted on the counter next to Add and climbed up to put the others back in the cabinet.

Add didn't yell at him. Why bother when he would've done the same? Ciel was the one that always yelled at them for climbing on the counters but Ciel was a child now, happily following Lu's terrible influence.

Add snorted. Who knew? Were all children this exhausting and difficult to deal with? He had zero intention of finding out the answer to that. He shook his head and continued looking for the medicine. After nearly turning the whole kitchen upside down, he found it. When he finally did he muttered plenty of sarcastic comments under his breath but read through the instructions. It sounded incredibly simple. Just put a single tablet into a drink or some food and there. Medicine. He raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and followed the instructions. The surface of the tea turned green and glowed. A few seconds later it returned to its normal color like nothing was added. “Well _that_ was pretty cool.”

Chung stood on his toes next to him, watching with mixed awe and confusion, “Where'd it go?”

“Into the tea,” Add shrugged. He reached into the cabinet to grab sugar because what kind of kid would drink plain tea when it was so bitter? He double checked the label to make sure what he grabbed was in fact the sugar and _not_ salt before dumping some into the tea. Once he decided it was stirred enough he gave it over to Chung.

“Thanks Add,” Chung drank it without complaint.

“No problem.” Add scanned through the cabinets for breakfast type foods and was relieved to find cereal and similar things kids could easily get for themselves. He opened the fridge. They didn't have a source of caffeine. Rena _was_ going to get some but then this whole mess happened. After a long groan of annoyance he reasoned he could always get some himself. Leave Elesis in charge again, since she seemed so good at getting the others to do something productive with their time.

It was relatively easy gathering them all to the living room. After last night they seemed content to listen to him, at least when they weren't upset for whatever reason, which was nice.

“Elesis is in charge,” Add told them, “Same rules as last time.”

Many of them groaned. Ciel and Lu complained that it wasn't fair and Lu demanded she be in charge. There was nothing that would make Add agree to that. Ever.

Elesis of course was pleased at being put in charge again, “I'll make sure nothing bad happens!”

“What rules?” Ain asked. He glanced around in confusion.

“If you argue with Elesis, she gets to fight you,” Add informed him seriously. “So don't.”

“Well that's not nice,” Ain muttered under his breath.

“You're going to get stuff at the store right?” Ara asked.

Add bit his tongue. “Yeah. That's what I just said,” he barely managed not to snap at her.

“Don't forget food for the cats! We only got breakfast for them last night!”

Oh yeah. The cats. Add sighed, “Alright.” That was probably why they were so inclined to listen to him. It's not everyday the resident adult allows two stray cats just because they were asked nicely. What was he supposed to do? Try to drag them away when there was twelve of them and they would undoubtedly throw a tantrum if he tried? Nah. It was easier to just let them keep the cats. He turned to the door, “I'm leaving. Do what Elesis tells you.” A chorus of reluctant and unhappy 'okay's followed him out the door.

“So. Cat food and some caffeine,” Add mumbled to himself. He might just get some tuna or something. Cat food was expensive and they seemed to like tuna just the same. Luckily he had enough foresight to also buy food for himself and the twelve kids he was reluctantly taking care of. It wasn't anything he had to cook and most of it was snacks. Either way, it was still food. It would keep them alive long enough for them to get back to normal. There would most likely be hell to pay if he got himself some chocolate without getting any for them, so he got a large bag of assorted candies. Dynamo carried most of the groceries back to the house.

When Add opened the door, the kids were playing some game in the center of the living room. All the furniture had been pushed off to the sides so they could all sit in a circle, facing each other, in the middle of the room. Raven walked around the outside of the circle patting them on the head, saying “Duck.”

Raven patted Lu's head, “Goose.”

Lu leaped to her feet and chased Raven around the circle. Raven circled it and slid into Lu's spot, almost crashing into Chung. He dropped into a sitting position.

“Man!” Lu complained, “That's not fair! You're taller than me!”

“Lu. Everyone's taller than you,” Rena reminded her.

Lu pouted.

“What're you guys playing?” Add cocked his head to the side.

“Duck, duck goose!” Lu grinned, “It's a game Elesis came up with!”

“Actually, it's a game the kids in Ruben played a lot. I didn't create it,” Elesis corrected modestly.

Add shrugged, “Well, alright.” He set down the bag he was carrying and looked them over, “Help put stuff away.”

“But we don't know where stuff goes,” Aisha argued.

Add's eyes narrowed, “If it's cold put it by the fridge and I'll put it away, otherwise it goes in the cabinets.” He grabbed the bag of chocolates, opened it, dumped it into a bowl and grabbed a handful.

“Ooo! Chocolate?!” Lu grinned.

Add glanced at her, “Yeah.”

“Can I have some?” Ara asked sweetly.

“One,” Add responded.

“What's this weird can stuff?” Elsword asked as he carried a bag filled with medium sized dark cans into the kitchen in his arms.

“Those are mine,” Add answered. He took the bag from the kid and set them on the counter.

“Are you gonna drink all of them?” Elsword asked in amazement.

“One at a time, of course,” Add rolled his eyes.

“How come we can't try some?” Lu demanded.

Add struggled to come up with a simple explanation the kids would understand that would also make them not want it, “Because they….have…bad stuff in them.” There definitely wasn't any way he was going to let them touch the energy drinks he bought for himself. They would go crazy and he struggled to maintain patience now. He'd lose it.

“Then why are you drinking them?” Ara's eyes went wide with worry.

“I'm an adult. I can drink what I want,” Add shrugged.

All three of them continued to stare at him, clearly not reassured at all.

Add sighed, “The… bad stuff is okay for adults. Your bodies are small so it's bad for you.”

“Oh!” Lu nodded. She grinned, “So once we're adults we can have some!”

“Sure.”

“Have some what?” Elesis asked curiously as she brought in a bag filled with snacks.

“Some of Add's bad stuff cans!” Lu pointed to where they sat on the counter.

Elesis gave Add a very confused look, “Bad stuff?”

Add sighed, “Its not bad for adults.”

“Oh,” Elesis nodded, “So when we're adults-”

“You can have some,” Add finished. _That's exactly what Lu said._ He turned away from them and rolled his eyes. “Elsword, tell the others you all can have one chocolate.”

“Okay!” Elsword seemed to take it as a challenge to jump around and over the bags scattering the kitchen floor.

Add watched him leap through the kitchen from the corner of his eye. He wasn't going to intervene unless Elsword tripped. He'd quickly learned it was best to catch them before they fell rather than let them. It was the easiest way to prevent crying.

“Add!” Rena called.

Add grumbled under his breath but crossed the kitchen. He saw Ara sitting, trying really hard not to cry, with a nice red spot on the side of her face. “What happened?”

“Ara fell into the table,” Raven explained.

Add pressed his lips together tightly, trying his best not to look irritated. He wasn't sure how well he succeeded but at least he sounded relatively calm, “Come here.”

Ara got to her feet and carefully picked her way over to him. She stopped in front of him, wiping tears from her eyes.

Add touched where the red mark was.

Ara flinched and whimpered.

Add quickly pulled his hand away. Dynamo looked her over. At least she didn't have a concussion so it wasn't anything complicated. According to some quick research he never thought he'd have to do, he found out that the best way to treat it was with some ice. They didn't have ice. He shrugged, “You'll be fine.” He grabbed a chocolate and handed it to her, “You can have an extra one.”

“That's not fair!” Aisha cried.

“Knock it off Aisha,” Add snapped. He gave her a hard look, but was careful not to actually glare at her, “You didn't fall face first into the table.”

Aisha pouted but didn't continue.

Ara looked embarrassed but took the chocolate he offered and ate it.

“You're sure she's okay, Mr. Ancient?” Ain asked worriedly, “That looked like it hurt.”

“Dynamo said she didn't have a concussion,” Add shrugged, “So it's not like I can do anything anyway.” _Unless there's pain medicine. But I wouldn't know where to begin looking for that._ Maybe it was another one of those tablet things. After all, Rena always gave him tea whenever he was in pain. He looked at Ara, “Does it hurt?”

Ara wouldn't look at him. She shrugged, “Not that badly…”

Add snorted, “Really?”

Ara shrugged again but admittedly meekly, “I have a headache.” She shuffled her feet, “You're busy with groceries-”

Add interrupted her, “That doesn't matter. Sit.” It's not like he could get her back to normal if she was injured. Besides, Rena would've treated her anyway. Since Rena wasn't capable of doing that right now and he was the closest thing to an adult there, that was now his job, as much as he hated it.

Ara obeyed and sat at the table.

Add found the medicines and looked them over. Rena seemed to have medicine for _everything_. It took a couple minutes to find the one that eased pain but when he did he added it to tea, dumped sugar in it, and gave it to Ara.

“All the cold stuff is sitting by the fridge,” Rose reported seriously.

“And we organized the cabinet stuff,” Eve added.

Add stared at them for a second. He hadn't asked them to do that but okay. He nodded, “Thanks.” He returned to the kitchen and put the cold stuff away. He grabbed another handful of chocolate and one of his energy drinks and set up at the table. They could keep playing their game in the center of the room, and he would keep working on fixing this disaster where he could still keep an eye on them.


	4. Chapter 4

“Add!” Lu called.

Add blinked. _Shit. I dozed off._ He rubbed one of his eyes and got to his feet. “What?” With his hands in his pockets he walked over to the middle of the room. All twelve kids were still gathered there, despite the sun having long since set. Snacks were scattered all around them and a dusting of crumbs covered the floor. A pile of trash as neat as a bunch of kids could get it was stacked in the center of the space between them all.

“Make a blanket fort with us!” Ara grinned.

Add glanced at the stairs, “Can't you just go back to the one upstairs?”

“But we wanna stay down here,” Aisha argued.

Add was too tired to bother arguing with them, “Fine. Go grab the blankets.” Even after three energy drinks he was still exhausted. He still managed to doze off. This was getting ridiculous.

“Race you up the stairs!” Elesis called out.

“No fair! You're already halfway there!” Elsword yelled.

They stampeded up the stairs to gather the blankets that were still perfectly well set up in a blanket fort in Add's room. He could hear them yelling at each other about who won and how it wasn't fair but he'd long since given up trying to keep them from that. It was so much easier to just let them be until they needed his attention. Micromanaging this many kids was such a hassle. Besides, Elesis was sensible enough to call him when an actual fight was about to break out and Rena and Raven knew to call him if something else happened.

It took all twelve kids to carry the blankets down the stairs. Ara tripped. Thankfully Rose caught her before she tumbled down the stairs.

“Don't put them down on the snacks,” Add said, “They'll get covered in crumbs.”

“Right,” Raven nodded seriously. They set the blankets down on the other side of the room.

Elesis and Raven insisted on helping Add move some furniture over to use as a frame for the fort. They all helped him set up the blankets. Or at least they tried their best. And in his exhaustion he didn't care enough to get annoyed with them. He only got after them if someone was going to get hurt and even then he didn't have the energy to sound irritated.

“All done!” Rena announced. She stepped back to survey the fort before nodding her head proudly.

“Yay!” Lu grinned.

“Ha!” Elesis put her hands on her hips, “Perfect!”

“Now go to sleep,” Add ordered. All he got was mild complaining but thankfully they all settled down in their blanket fort. He noted that down for future reference now that it had worked more than once. As long as they had a fort they'd go to bed without much trouble. He did not want a repeat of the three hour struggle that happened the night before.

“Can you tell us a story?” Aisha asked.

“What?”

“Tell us a story!” Aisha repeated.

“Yeah!” Elsword grinned.

The other kids nodded in agreement.

Add hesitated, annoyance flaring up. Why did he have to tell them a story? No one ever made Rena or Raven tell a story before going to sleep and they hadn't made him do it before. Finally he closed his eyes, “Fine. About what?”

“How we kicked Scar's butt!” Elesis suggested immediately.

“But you know how we kicked Scar's butt,” Add argued.

“I wanna hear a story about an old hero,” Chung said.

“Me too!” Aisha nodded enthusiastically.

“I don't know anything about old heroes,” Add tried not to snap at them.

“Make something up,” Rena shrugged.

“But then it wouldn't be a story about an old hero,” Eve argued, “It would be a story Add made up.”

Add took a deep breath and suggested grumpily, “I'll just read something then.”

“There are plenty of books in the library!” Aisha beamed.

“We're not going to the library,” Add shook his head, “We're staying here and you're going to sleep.”

“That's not fair!” Aisha wailed.

Add gritted his teeth, “We'll go to the library tomorrow!”

“Okay!”

Add sighed. He brought up a screen on Dynamo and looked up stories about old heroes, since that seemed to be what they wanted to hear. He couldn't believe he was doing this but it seemed to be the only way to get them to sleep reasonably quickly. When his search brought back results he picked one at random. After a few interruptions because, apparently, he wasn't reading it right, all the kids listened to the story silently. He continued to read until every one of them was sound asleep, even Aisha who was clearly trying to stay awake to listen to the story.

Add got to his feet, muttering about how demanding kids could be, and went back to the table. One of the cats they picked up jumped onto the table near him and sat down. He petted it before returning to figuring out what caused this whole mess in the first place.


	5. Chapter 5

Unfortunately the next morning they were still children. Rena was the first one to climb out of the fort at dawn. Add watched her silently. She climbed into one of the chairs at the table next to him and grabbed a chocolate out of the bowl. He was beginning to notice that individually, none of them were so bad. It was just when they were all together that the chaos started.

“What're you working on?” Rena asked curiously.

“Stuff,” Add shrugged. He motioned toward the kitchen, “There's cereal or lunchables or whatever in the kitchen.”

“I want eggs.”

“I'm not making eggs.”

“I can make them,” Rena stated confidently.

“You can't even reach the stove,” Add reminded her.

“I can ask the wind spirits for help!”

“No.” Add shook his head. “No eggs until you can reach the stove.”

Rena pouted but quickly cheered up. “Are we still going to the library today?” She asked the question over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen.

“When everyone wakes up,” Add responded. He was reluctant to take them all out again but Aisha was likely to get argumentative after he promised her they could last night. He didn't feel like dealing with that. While the dinner outing wasn't the worst, wrangling the kids was a lot harder in more open spaces. Besides, last time they went out the kids picked up two stray cats. He didn't want them picking up anything else.

When Rena finished breakfast she went back into the fort and started to get the others up, much to Add's annoyance. He was hoping at least one of them would sleep through the day so he had an excuse to not take them anywhere. With a heavy, exhausted sigh he dismissed the screens and wandered to the fridge for a drink. Today was gonna be a long day.

“I wanna bring Snowball!” Elsword picked up the fluffy mostly white cat and held her close to his chest. The cat looked annoyed, hanging from his arms, her tail swishing back and forth. Of course just as they were about to leave, something had to happen.

_What kind of a name is Snowball?_ Add gave Elsword a flat look, “Put her down.”

“But I wanna bring her with us!” Elsword insisted.

“Why can't she come?” Ara asked sadly, “She lived outside before.”

“Yeah!”

“Cats aren't allowed in the library,” Add transferred the flat look to Ara. He shoved his hands into his pockets, “The cats will have to stay here until we get back.”

“All alone?!” Chung's eyes flew wide open anxiously. “Are they gonna be okay?!”

“They can't take care of themselves!” Elsword yelled.

Add bit his tongue. They literally found the cats outside, taking care of themselves just fine but okay. He took a deep breath, “They'll be fine. We'll leave food out for them before we go.”

“But what if something happens?” Ara asked.

“Fine,” Add threw his hands in the air in defeat. “If you're so worried about the cats you can stay here with them.”

“Elesis will stay right?” Elsword turned to his sister hopefully.

“Actually, I'm going to the library,” Elesis shrugged. “I wanna see what's there.”

“Who's gonna look after us?” Ara's voice became high pitched with worry. Tears gathered in her eyes.

Add took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Here's what's happening. We're going to the library. The cats are staying here. They were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves outside, so I'm sure they'll be fine in the house. The house is _a lot_ safer than being outside after all. Okay?”

“You're sure they'll be okay?” Ara sniffed.

Add nodded, “Yes. Now, Elsword, put her down and let's go.”

Elsword reluctantly put the cat down, muttering about how he was certain he could've brought her to the library.

Add sighed in relief. Dynamo removed the lock on the door and the kids filed out and gathered in front of the house. He replaced the lock and led the way to the library. It was a challenge keeping the kids on track with all the distractions around them but they managed to arrive without too much trouble.

Add sat at a table and watched the kids scatter through the library. It might be irresponsible of him but he wasn't going to police them. With all the different directions they went it would be impossible anyway. If they needed him, he was in an easy to find spot. Besides, one of them would probably just scream for him instead of bothering to find him.

As predicted, only a few moments passed before Raven called, “Add!”

Add groaned as he slowly got to his feet. Dynamo tracked Raven down via his nasod arm and Add made his way over. He couldn't say he was surprised when he found Ara, near tears, sitting by a ladder in between a couple of bookshelves.

“Ara fell off the ladder,” Raven pointed up towards the top.

“How high?” Add asked.

Raven climbed up the ladder and touched the rung fourth from the top, “She was on this one. I told her to be careful and when she turned to acknowledge me her foot slipped and she fell.”

“I didn't mean to fall again.”

Add snorted. Despite his annoyance he assured her, “You never mean to. It's fine.” With a quiet sigh he knelt down in front of her. Dynamo scanned her and reported that she somehow managed not to break anything. “Try to stand up,” he ordered.

Ara hesitated but didn't argue. Slowly, she got to her feet. Raven offered his arm to help steady her but she seemed determined to do it on her own. She did manage to stand but kept most of her weight on her right side.

Add stood up and looked at the shelf, “What were you trying to get?”

“The big brown book about deities,” Ara pointed up toward the shelf.

Add reached up and pulled a brown book with grey letters on the binding and showed it to her, “This one?”

Ara nodded.

Add held it out to her, along with a chocolate just to be sure she didn't start crying. He looked at Raven, “Stay with her.”

Raven nodded, “I will.”

Before Add could say anything more Elsword's voice echoed through the library. Add blew air into his cheeks. He turned on his heel and stalked out from the bookshelves. Dynamo located Elsword and Add walked up to him, “What are you yelling about?”

“I found a game Chung and I can play!” Elsword declared excitedly, holding up a beat up box for an old chess set.

Add took a deep breath and tried to sound calm, “That's great. But you're not supposed to yell in a library.”

“Oh,” Elsword covered his mouth with his hand, muffling his whispered apology.

Add waved his hand dismissively, “Go play your game.”

Elsword nodded and scampered off to the nearest table.

“Wait for me!” Chung called. He cringed and quickly lowered his volume, “I-I mean. Hold on.” He hurried after Elsword.

Add sighed and returned to his table. It took all of his effort not to doze off in the library.

“Add.”

Add looked to the side.

Aisha stood next to him, holding a book close to her chest, looking frustrated, “The lady said I had to return the book in a week!”

“Okay?” Add rolled his eyes. He didn't see how that warranted frustration.

“Tell the lady I'm keeping it! She won't listen to me cuz I'm a child!”

_You've got to be kidding._ “You didn't realize you couldn't keep library books?” Add asked irritably.

“I want to keep it!” Aisha insisted.

Add growled quietly, “You can't. If you aren't gonna be happy if you can't keep it then put it back.”

“But I want it! It's important!”

“Then we'll just go to a fucking bookstore,” Add snapped. He held out his hand, “Let me see it.”

Aisha beamed and gave him the book, clearly pleased.

Add only glanced at the title so he could have Dynamo locate a bookstore that had the book in stock. After a moment he looked back at Aisha, “Go get the others and we'll go.” He shoved the book back at her, “And put this back.” He watch Aisha skip away and ran his hands down his face. Now he was just turning into Ciel but trying to tell a kid no was so annoying.

“Hey, Mr. Ancient. How come we're going to a bookstore?” Ain asked curiously.

“Because Aisha didn't realize she couldn't keep the books from the library,” Add explained irritably.

“That's weird. How come you can't keep them?”

“I don't know-”

“Add!” Elesis called.

Add turned to her, “What?”

“Aisha's fighting with Elsword.”

Add let out a long sigh. He got to his feet and walked over. Almost immediately he heard the two bickering while Chung desperately tried to mediate. He really missed Rena being her normal self. Now he had to try to mediate the argument instead of instigating and laughing at them, which was much more fun. “What are you two doing?”

“I tried to tell them we're going to the bookstore but this dummy,” Aisha pointed at Elsword, her motions sharp with anger, “Doesn't want to pick up his game!”

Add looked at Elsword without a word.

“She ruined it! We were playing and she came by and just started putting it away! In the middle of a game!” Elsword shouted.

“I thought I said no yelling in the library,” Add reminded him flatly. He looked at Aisha, “It wasn't gonna kill you to let them finish their game. Now you have to wait while they start a whole new one over again.”

“What?! Why?! That's not fair!” Aisha stomped her foot.

Add pressed his lips together and more forcefully said, “I _just_ told Elsword no yelling in the library. Or were you not listening?”

“Make them stop playing! We have to go the bookstore!” Aisha continued to pitch her fit like he hadn't said a word.

Add gave her a hard look, “Or we won't go to the bookstore at all and we'll just go straight home and you can pitch your fit there.” He whirled around but before he left he looked back at her, “Let them finish their game.” Without another word he stalked back to the table and flopped into his chair.

“Are we really going to the bookstore?” Ara asked anxiously.

Add glanced at her, “Maybe. Depends on Aisha's attitude.”

“Oh…” Ara looked down but didn't say more.

“What?” Add asked.

“Well, I just…my leg hurts a little bit…” Ara trailed off. She shook her head quickly, “But it's not bad enough to go home! Promise!”

Add rolled his eyes. She kept downplaying her injuries when making sure she didn't get hurt worse really wasn't that complicated. He barely managed not to snap at her to be selfish for once. Instead he sighed, “Dynamo can carry you if we do go to the bookstore, alright? It's not a problem.”

“Can we buy stuff at the bookstore?” Lu asked cheerfully. She climbed onto the chair and stood up on it. With her hands on her hips she surveyed the area around her and cackled, “I'm taller than all of you!”

“You each get _one_ thing,” Add answered. He didn't bother telling Lu to get down but he did keep an eye on her in case she fell.

“I wanna be tall too!” Lu helped Ciel climb onto the chair to stand next to her even though he didn't really need it.

“Look at me! I'm Scar!” The tiny demon returned her hands on her hips and gave a mock villain laugh, “Now bow before me you puny beings!”

Add laughed.

Once Elsword and Chung finished their game they moved on to the bookstore, since Aisha had calmed down and was back to being reasonable. Or as reasonable as a child could be.

Add found a nice spot near the middle of the bookstore and sat cross-legged on the floor. He watched the kids scatter into the store to look for their one thing he was letting them get.

“Hey Add!” Elesis called. “Look what we found!”

Add lifted his chin from his hand. Elesis, Rose, Lu, Ciel, and Elsword were working together to carry a gigantic plush rabbit. His eyes widened, “What is that?”

“A giant bunny!” Lu grinned. “Ciel wants it!”

“It takes five of you to carry it,” Add commented.

“Of course,” Lu nodded matter-of-factly. “We can't let it drag on the ground and get all dirty!”

Add hesitated. Finally he shook his head, laughing weakly, “Get something a little smaller alright?” Before they could argue he added, “We'll come back for the bunny later.” He had absolutely no intention to come back for that rabbit, but if he bought time for them to return to their normal selves then 1. it wouldn't take five of them to carry it and 2. Ciel could buy it himself.

“Okay…” Ciel mumbled dejectedly but he helped the others carry the rabbit back.

As they went, Add heard Lu offer to argue if Ciel really wanted it and groaned. Luckily Ciel assured her it was fine and he would just get a smaller rabbit instead.

Ara trotted happily up to him and sat down next to him. She excitedly held out a book, “I found an origami book!” She proceeded to explain how her mother had tried to teach her but she only managed to make paper cranes.

“Neat,” Add commented. It was weird to hear Ara talk about her mother. The only family member she usually talked about was her older brother, but he wasn't going to comment on that. He laid his chin back on his hand to continue waiting for the others to come back.

When all of the kids had picked their thing Add paid for it and walked them all back to the house.


	6. Chapter 6

“Elesis, what are you doing?” Add asked. He set down the grocery bag with the replacement energy drinks and another bag of chocolate on the table. He crossed the room to stand next to her, Elsword and Ara.

Elesis beamed up at him, “I'm teaching Ara how to punch people!”

“Properly!” Elsword added excitedly.

Add stared at them blankly for a moment. Finally he just sighed, “Just… No.”

“Just know? What am I supposed to just know?” Elesis cocked her head to the side in bewilderment.

Add rubbed his temples. He shook his head, “Whatever. Have fun. Don't kill anyone.” Before he took a single step a clang rang through the house. Screams erupted from the kitchen followed almost immediately by the smoke alarms' incessant screeching. When he arrived at the archway into the kitchen, he saw Rena extinguishing a fire. Lu cackled nearby while Chung and Ciel both watched Rena with wide anxious eyes.

“What happened?!” Add demanded. The oven door hung open and a scorched husk was stuck to a cookie sheet lying on the floor.

“We tried to heat up the pizza but it caught fire instead,” Chung explained quietly.

Add pulled up a screen and used Dynamo to shut off the smoke alarms. He stalked into the kitchen and closed the oven door. The oven was set to 450 degrees when he turned it off.

“We put it out…” Rena pointed out anxiously.

“Why couldn't you just eat the pizza cold?” Add demanded. He picked up the cookie sheet, ignoring the burning sensation that ripped through his hand to the best of his ability, and tossed it onto the back of the stove. A black rectangle shaped scorch mark marred the linoleum floor.

“It's pizza,” Rena commented neutrally. “It's not supposed to be cold.”

“It's a fucking lunchable,” Add countered. “Those don't go in the oven, certainly not at 450 degrees.” He shook out his hand and noted to himself he needed to deal with that later.

“But the cheese won't be melted,” Lu argued.

“Melted cheese doesn't make it pizza,” Add snapped. “Just eat it cold next time.”

“Sorry,” Chung looked down, clearly ashamed.

Rena and Ciel nodded and Rena repeated Chung's apology. “The big pizzas in the freezer cook at 450 so we just thought it would work for the little ones too…” the elf explained.

_Well now there's a scorch mark on the floor._ Add pressed his lips together. Lu still glared at him defiantly and he didn't feel like arguing with her. He sighed and tried to sound calm, “Eat it cold next time. It's not the end of the world.”

It didn't take long for Add to notice that after everything with the oven all of the kids were oddly quiet and well behaved. Ara sat at the table, using the book she bought the day before to try and fold something other than a paper crane. Over time the others joined her, asking about it.

“I can teach you!” Ara offered excitedly, “And we can all learn to fold stuff together!”

“Ooo okay!” Lu grinned.

Eve looked at Add, “We don't have enough spare paper for that.”

Add reluctantly got up, “I can go get some then.”

“Can I come?!” Ciel asked. He leaped to his feet, “I promise I'll be good!”

Add hesitated, waiting for the others to demand to go. Surprisingly, only Chung voiced as much. With a sigh, Add agreed, “Fine. You two can come along.”

“You guys should get cookies!” Lu suggested immediately.

“And juice!” Rena added.

“Paper, juice, and cookies.” Add ran his hands down his face, trying to ignore the exhaustion dragging at his limbs.

“And food for Snowball and Sunshine,” Rose added. “We're running low on tuna since the, uh… science experiment. That you got mad at us for.”

Add frowned. Of course he got mad at them for that. Mixing every food in the house wasn't a science experiment. It was just a waste of food. He didn't have enough energy to get worked up over that again though. “Right. _Tuna_ , paper, cookies, juice.” With a glance at Chung and Ciel to make sure they were ready to go he walked out to the store.

Chung hurried after Add and grabbed his hand while Ciel half skipped on his other side.

“Why kind of juice should we get?” Chung asked.

“We probably should've asked before we left…” Ciel pointed out.

“Well we've already left so we'll just have to figure it out,” Add reasoned. He was not going back to the house only to have to deal with them fighting over which juice they wanted.

“Oh no. We don't know what kind of cookies to get either!”

“We'll just get one container of each kind of cookie and call it a good day,” Add assured Chung. If there weren't so many different kinds of juice they could do the same with that. He sighed, “What's your guys' favorite juices?”

“I like apple juice a lot,” Chung answered almost immediately.

Ciel took a moment to think before he gave his answer, “I like fruit punch.”

“And orange juice!” Chung added.

Ciel nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! Orange juice!”

“So… we'll just get orange juice, apple juice, and fruit punch,” Add decided. If any of the others didn't like it they would have to deal. They didn't come along with him to the store, so they didn't get to choose. He grabbed an energy drink as they were finishing up.

“Can I carry the paper?” Ciel asked.

“Sure,” Add answered. He held the bag out to the half demon, “It's kinda heavy.”

“I'll carry the tuna!” Chung offered. He grabbed the bag holding the cans and held on to it with both hands.

Add glanced at him. He shrugged, “If those get to heavy for either of you, you can put it on Dynamo.” He put the other bags on Dynamo but carried his drink so he could pop it open the moment they left they store.

When they got back, Elesis, Raven, Rose and Elsword were in the process of moving the furniture around to make room for them to all sit in a circle in the middle of the room. Ara stood beaming in the corner with her origami book held close to her chest. Aisha stood next to her, nose deep in her own book. Lu sat on Eve's shoulders while the nasod split the snacks that were still in the house evenly so Ain and Rena could set them up in a circle.

“You're back!” Lu noticed them first.

“Bring the cookies here,” Eve ordered.

Ciel set the paper down where he stood to grab the cookies. He hurried across the room and set them down in front of her.

“Give me the tuna and take Eve the juice,” Add told Chung, holding out his hand.

Chung grunted as he lifted the bag full of cans up to Add's hand. Once he was free of them he took the juice to Eve, mimicking Ciel's enthusiasm.

Add took the tuna into the kitchen and set the bag on the counter. At the sound, Snowball, the more social of the two cats, sprinted into the kitchen and leaped to the counter. She skidded along it, straight into the sink. Her back paws landed in a bowl half full of water and she leaped back on the counter, shaking out her wet paws in disgust.

Add chuckled and petted her before grabbing a plate for her to eat off of. That was when Sunshine, a golden cat with sleek short fur, trotted calmly into the kitchen. She leaped onto the counter and sat on the edge, much more dignified than the other cat. He grabbed her a plate as well and served the cats their dinner. After feeding them, he sat down at the table and stared into space, trying hard not to doze off.

“It's dinnertime now!” Elesis's voice jerked him out of his thoughts.

Add jumped and looked at her. He sighed, “Okay, so get something to eat. There's plenty of stuff.”

“You aren't gonna make something?!” Elesis whined.

Add shook his head, “No.”

“Not even something simple?”

“No.”

“But I want to help you make dinner!”

“You always want to help make dinner but I'm not cooking.” Add motioned to the kitchen, “There's lunchables and cereal and other simple stuff like that you can get yourselves.”

Elesis was undoubtedly upset with him again. She kept shooting glares and muttering mutinous comments. Halfway through finishing her dinner, she spoke loudly enough he could hear, “Lunchables don't count as dinner.”

Add shrugged, “They do in this house.”

“They aren't even real food,” Rena complained.

Add looked at her silently for a moment. He waved his hand dismissively, “There should be carrots or something in the fridge if you would prefer.”

“Ew,” Rena shook her head adamantly, “Carrots are disgusting!”

Add almost laughed. Who knew Rena didn't like carrots? As an adult she seemed fond enough of using them as ingredients. “Then stop complaining and eat your lunchable.”

After dinner Add stared at the sink full of dishes. He glanced at the dishwasher and debated leaving the dishes for another day. Then again, just earlier that day, he caught Snowball drinking week old water from one of the bowls in the sink instead of her perfectly clean water bowl. He really needed to clean the dishes before the dumbass cat managed to poison herself. Grumbling and complaining under his breath, he opened the dishwasher. He glanced around the kitchen. His eyes narrowed and he muttered, “I don't even know where anything fucking goes in this stupid place.” With a shrug he reasoned he could just estimate and Rena or Ciel would fix it when they got back to normal.

When Add was done he sat on the couch and pulled one of his knees up to his chest. He watched the kids fight with the paper shapes they were trying to make until his exhaustion overtook him and everything faded away.


	7. Chapter 7

Rena blinked open her eyes. She felt… odd. She couldn't quite describe it but a quick inspection of her bedroom showed everything was fine. Upon a closer look however, she noticed her calender had two whole weeks marked off it. She had no memory of those two weeks. She frowned. Making sure to be quiet, she left her room and made her way down stairs. It was dawn after all. Most of the rest of the search party would be asleep right now, though the smell of breakfast was usually enough to get them downstairs.

When the elf reached the bottom of the stairs her eyes widened. The entire downstairs area was a _mess_. Stacks of blank paper were scattered throughout the room. All the furniture was pushed off to the side. Crumbs, plastic cups, and small bits of wrappers covered the floor from the base of the stairs to the outer corner of the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. Half empty containers of cookies laid open on the table. The entire room smelled vaguely of some strange combination of sugar and tuna.

“Okay…” Rena nodded slowly. Something was definitely off. She picked her way carefully to the kitchen, trying not to spread the mess. The first thing that stuck out to her was the distorted cookie sheet sitting on the back of the stove. _Something_ was charred in the middle of it and black scorch marks covered most of the surface. When she tried to lift the corner of the charred mess the entire cookie sheet came up, showing her the bottom was just as scorched as the rest of it. It was then that she noticed the conveniently rectangular scorch mark on the floor just left of the oven. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She glanced around, noticing the two plates of mostly eaten tuna sitting on the counter.

Rena carefully set the cookie sheet back down and opened the fridge. Instantly things started falling out. She picked one of the items up and recognized a lunchable. With a closer look in the fridge it was nearly completely full of the mini meals, all haphazardly stacked and shoved wherever they would fit. She frowned and closed the fridge. She moved on to the freezer and found chocolate and enough oven pizzas to feed a small army.

“Rena?”

Rena turned to see Eve looking around in confusion. She smiled, “Good morning Eve.”

“What… happened?” Eve asked curiously. “Moby and Remy were stuck in my room for two weeks. Without me.”

Rena shook her head, at a complete loss, “I have no idea.”

“Also, I don't recall us having cats in the house,” Eve commented with a look around.

“Cats?” Rena repeated, stunned.

Eve nodded, “There is quite a bit of cat hair scattered around. And I thought I saw one on the couch but I'm not sure.” She motioned towards the living room, “I thought I'd check with you before looking over there. Since I didn't know if you were working on cleaning up yet or not.”

Rena nodded, “Alright, well. Let's see if we can't find cats.” She left the kitchen. When she reached the couch she did in fact find a cat. It was golden and curled up on a blanket. A quick glance around revealed plenty more blankets all shoved into various crevices throughout the mass of furniture filling that part of the room.

“Add?” Eve blinked, seeming quite surprised.

At first Rena didn't see whatever Eve saw. After a moment though she saw a bit of white hair sticking out from under the blanket in the corner of the couch. That was certainly odd. If Add slept at all it wasn't ever on the couch.

“Leave me alone,” Add growled. “I'm staying here, under the blanket, on the couch, with the cats, okay?!”

Rena blinked. While Add did sound like himself he also sounded a bit weird but she wasn't going to press. “Okay. I'll let you know when breakfast is ready.” With that she turned back to the kitchen.

Eve hesitated but followed her. The nasod kept her voice low, “Add is… small? I'm very confused. I thought humans didn't shrink.”

“Something weird must be going on,” Rena hummed thoughtfully as she set up for breakfast. She handed Eve the cookie sheet, “Can you run that out for me? It's not useable anymore.”

Eve nodded, “Of course.”

As much as Rena tried to come up with a possible explanation she couldn't think of anything. Whatever the reason, she doubted her two week memory gap and Add being small suddenly were coincidences.

“What's for breakfast?”

Rena turned in surprise. “I thought you said you were staying on the couch, under the blankets.”

“I changed my mind,” Add snapped. He was quite a bit smaller than usual. His face was soft and childlike. He had the blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape and held a purring fluffy white cat with striped grey splotches on it's back.

“I haven't decided what's for breakfast yet,” Rena admitted. “Probably a scramble of some sort.”

Add stuck out his tongue, “Those take forever. And they have vegetables in them.”

“There are plenty of lunchables in the fridge,” Rena pointed out.

Add groaned, “Don't remind me.” He muttered complaints under his breath but wandered over to the fridge. He used his foot to open it and when a pile of lunchables fell out he picked one and kicked it across the kitchen.

“If you're going to kick it at least do so gently.”

Add opened his mouth but shut it again without saying anything. He studied her for a long moment before a shit eating grin spread across his face. “No. I don't wanna have to micro kick it all the way to the main room. That's tedious!”

Rena stared at him in surprise. What was with that grin? She frowned and watched him walk across the kitchen to his lunchable and kick it again.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Add commented under his breath. He snickered before erupting into full on laughter. If he had to go through hell because of them then it was only fair he put them through hell in return. And he was determined to have as much fun with it as he possibly could. They were going to _hate_ small children by the time he was done.


End file.
